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E. B. BIGELOW.

LAMP.

Patentd Jan. 19, 1886.

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llll 0L imi jm aeaoori c VUNiTnn STATES PATENT Ormes.

EDMONDA B. BIGELOW, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, SOLO- MONL.`BIGNALL,AND CHARLES J. GLENN, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

LAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334.558, dated January'19, 1886.

Apbncarion flied April 2o, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known'that'l, EDMOND B. BIGnLoW, residing atiChicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, and a citizen of the 5 United States,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamps, of which thefollowing isa full description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in Whichro Figure l is a vertical section of a handlamp; Fig.2, an elevationof the central tube with the wick-holder in place; Fig.3, acrosssection on line l 1 of Fig.' 2; Fig. 4, an elevation of thecone; Fig. 5, an elevation of the collar of the fountain by which thecone is attached; Fig. 6, an elevation of the fountain of abracket-lamp, partly broken away at the l bottom; Fig. 7, an elevationof the upper end of the central tube.

2o The object of this invention is to improve the construction andoperation of center-vent or Argand lamps, so as to adapt them moreperfectly to the use of kerosene or other carbon oils; and its natureconsists in the several combinations and improvements hereinafter setforth and claimed as new.

In the drawings, A indicates the fountain or vase; B, the base; C, theburner; D, the neck or collar of the burner; E, the fountain-collar;

3o a, the central tube; b, the supporting-tube for the fountain; c, thegroove for supporting the lower bridge of the button-stem; d d', bridgesl or spiders for supporting a button-stem; e, button-stem; f, button; g,the screw collar and thread by which the position of the button may beadjusted; h, wick-holder; t', notches or teeth for moving thewick-holder; j, hooks or Aprojections for insuring the movement of thewick with the holder; 7c, grooves in the wick- 40 holder for permittingit to pass the shaft of the wick-ratchet; l, wick-ratchet shaft; m,button for operating the wick-ratchet; n, the

2 ratchet; o, box located within the central tube for inclosing thewick-ratchet; p, side tube of the box o, for the wick-ratchet shaft; q,swelling or projection in the box o, for the inner end of theratchet-shaft; r, vertical and horizontal slot in the collar D of theburner; s, a similar slot in the collar E of the fountain; t,

5o collar for attaching the lamp to a bracket or other support; a, holein collar t, for connect- Serial No. 129,782. (No model.)

ing it with the lower end of the button-stem; o, vent-holes in base; w,wick-space; x, space for the exterior current of air; y, perforatedsheet of metal or wire-gauze screen; c, upper contracted end of cone.

The lamp shown is usually made of brass or other sheet metal that can bespun, stamped, or pressed into the desired shapes of the form shown, orofother suitable forms which are not a substantial departure therefrom.

The center tube, tais made of a length sufficient to pass from the upperend of the interior part of the burner down tothe top of the base,Vithin this tube is located a box or casing, o, whichvsurrounds thewick-ratchet and prevents oil from passing to the interior of the tubein use. This box, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a side tube, p,which surrounds the shaft l, and prevents the leak- 7o age of oil atthis point. The swell q, for the inner end of the shaft Z, may beomitted, if desired, as the device works Well in use with, out it. ltsuse, however, gives the wickratchet a little steadier position.

The wick-holder is made in the form shown in Fig. 2, and is providedwith notches or cross-bars to engage with the teeth of the ratchet u, bymeans of which the wick-holder is raised or lowered. The wick-holder isprovided with small upwardly-inclined teeth j, as shown, which teethengage with the wick and insure its uniform raising, but being madeupwardly inclined, as shown, and of thin metal,so as to yield laterally.This holder can be run down, so as to make a new engagement with thewick after it has reached its upper limit in use, and by holding thewick against the tube a this wick-holder can be run down by the ratchet,and a new engagement is thus made with the wick without taking it out ofthe lamp and without removing more than the cone of the burner, thusdoing away with the necessity of taking the lamp apart to readjust thewick, and as the wicks are originally inserted with their surplusmaterial below the 'holden this arrangement does not interfere withputting a new wick into the lamp. This arrangement also enables me touse a short wick-holder, which gives the wick greater freedom within thebody of the fountain.

The construction of the wick-raising ratchet IOO does not differ fromordinary constructions, except that the hole through the ratchet-wheelis square, and the corresponding part of the shaft Z is also square incross-section. By this construction the ratchet-wheel can be placed inthe box o, and the shaft Z slipped into it, and the rotation oftheratchet is thus secured, even though the soldering or pressing should bedefective or become loosened by use, and thus become inoperative, whichfrequently happens when the shaft is round for lits entire length.

In the center of the central tube I locate the button-stem e, which ismade of as small size of wire as will answer the purpose, and support itby the bridge d at the bottom, and I hold the upper end in position bythe bridge or spider d', which bridge may be secured either to thecenter tube or to lthe stem, as may be most convenient.

In constructing lamps for the burning of carbon oil it is essential tomake provision for the introduction of as largea body of air as ispossible. For this reason I use as large a tube as can be properly madefor the size of the burnerto be applied, and I make the stem e of assmall a wire as will be sufficient to properly sustain the button, whilethe bridges or spiders are made as open as possible to give themsufcient strength to support the stem, thus giving the central tube asgreat a capacity as can be had with the fewest obstructions possible.

As shown in Fig. l, the buttonf is made adjustable by the screw g, sothat a nice adjustment of the air-currents can be had, when desired. Forcheap lamps and for lamps to be used by unskilled persons it will,however, be preferable to make the adjustment at the factory, and forthis purpose the screw-thread may be omitted and the button be simplyslipped on over the upper end of the stem e. The concave form of thebutton f is the most desirable form for use, as this constructionprevents any eddying of the air-currents in contact with or in proximityto the fiame. This button, as will be seen from Fig. l, is nearly butnot quite as large in diameter as the diameter of the cone z at itsupper end. The cone is curved inward, as shown, so that as thecombustible vapor ascends from the wick the exterior current of air issharply impinged against it, and by reason of the large diameter of thebutton the interior current is also strongly impinged against theascending current of vapor and flame, and by reason of this arrangementand adjustment of diameters between the cone and button and the narrowspace between them a thorough intermixture of air is made with thevapor, and, the rapidly-ascending currents of air being thus made topractically cross each other, they have the effect of a blast, inaddition to supplying and directing the proper amount of air to thevapor, and I thus produce a perfection of combustion, which I believehas not heretofore been attained in lamps for burning carbon oil.

For the purpose of readily separating the cone from the burner forcleaning purposes and the easy insertion of wicks, I provide theslipping collar D of the cone with the slot r, which is of the formcommonly known as bayonet-catch, the locking-pin, however, in this casebeing the shaft Z of the wick-raiser. I also provide the collar E of thefountain with a similar slot, s; but in this construction it will benecessary for either this collar or the central tube to be adapted topartly rotate.

In this construction the ratchet-shaft is inserted in the verticalportion of the slot s, then it or the collar is turned to bring theshaft into the horizontal portion ofthe slot, the concis then inserted,the horizontal portion of the slot 1' passing the shaft Z, the collar Dof the cone is then turned, so as to bring up the horizontal portion ofthis slot across the shaft Z, and thus close the opening for the shaft Zwith a closer fitting than a round hole. By this ar rangement parts ofthe burner are easily separated for the purpose before mentioned. Forcheaper lamps the central tube may be placed in position and rotated tothe end of the slot s before it is soldered to the bottom ofthe fountainor other parts of the lamp.

The base B of the hand-lamp is provided with vent-openings o, whichpreventthe shutting off of the air by setting the lamp down, so that thecentral tube is at all times provided with a free and full current ofair.

For the attachment of lamps to brackets, gas-fixtures, or other fixedsupport, I provide the collar t, shown in Fig. 6, with an interiorscrew-thread of the regulation size to fit these fixtures, and with ahole, u, to fit the lower end of the stem e. By means of this collar thelamp can be readily attached to any supporting-fixture and be readilyput in position or lifted off by slipping the stem cinto or out of thehole u.

It will of course be understood that I do not lay any claim to theinvention of an Argand or center-vent burner, myixnprovements in thisrespect being only such as are hereinafter claimed; and I do not claim,broadly, the application of teeth to a wick-holder. My improvement inthis respect consists in placing the teeth at an upwardly-inclinedangle, as described, so that the holder can be lowered, when desired,without taking the wick with it.

I do not claim the combination of a wickraising shaft with a slottedburner-tube, as such of itself is not my invention.

NVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The tube b, having groove c, in combination with the bridges orspiders d d', stem e, and button f, substantially as described.

2. The combination of tube a, tube p, and the ratchet-wheel covering-boxo, located within tube a, substantially as described.

3. The oil-tight ratchet-wheel box 0, located within the tube a, andtube p, in combination ICO IIO

with the wheel n, and shaft Z, substantially as inclined and inwardlyyielding spring-teeth j, described.` for effecting a new engagement withthe wick 4.` The combination, with a tube, a, of a when the latter isheld and the wick-holder 15 wick-holder, h, having upwardly-inelined andlowered, substantially as described.

5 laterally-yielding spring-teeth j, for the pur- 6. The screw-threadedcollar` t, in combinapose of effecting a new engagement of the tion withthe stem e and bridge d, substanteeth with the wick when the latter isheldtially as and for the purpose set forth. and the wick-holder islowered, substantially as described i l EDMOND B. BIGELOW.

ro 5. The combination, with a'tube, a, of the Vitnesses:

wick-holder h, applied to slide directly on the ALBERT H. ADAMS, tube,and having the upwardly and outwardly O. W. BOND.

